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Page 12 Halton HillsThis Week, Wednesday, July 8, 1992 BUSINESS Money Matters Delay in financial planning means lost dollars “Procrastination is the thief of extra holiday or another recreation- time” goes the old adage and al toy. Those paying their mort- nowhere is it ae relevant than in gages on a monthly basis “want to the field of financial planning. If think about” there is one consistent message from all financial aed it has to be “Do something no’ Without reducing this column to a collection of cliches, one often hears the somewhat cynical obser- vation that “Talk is cheap” and that is certainly also true when address- ing one’s financial planning needs. It doesn’t cost you anything to talk about getting into an organised plan ut it does cost you dearly if you do nothing about it. Let us take a simple example of the 20 year old who is probably free from the worries of mortgage, fami- ly to support and any other onerous financial commitment. If such an individual committed to saving only $100 from his pay packet and consistently did so each month until his retirement, he would amass — at a 12 per cent annual return — about $1,800,000. If he procrastinates till age 25 because of the lures of being single and fancy free but nevertheless agrees to the same commitment at age 25, he will have about $980,000 saved up by age 65. Isn’t it strange that by forgoing saving $6000 between age 20 and 25 ($1200 per year for 5 years), such an individual forfeits $820,000 or almost half of what would have been available by start- ing at age 20? But such procrastination is not the preserve of the young — it is a trait that accompanies us through all stages of our life. People in mid career feel that there is no need to start considering longer-term goals because they want to have more renovations to their home or an paying weekly or biweekly even after they have seen the thousands of dollars to be saved from changing their payment plan. Procrastination is so easy to use as an excuse for doing nothing when you should be doing some- thing and having no excuse when the time of reckoning comes except to blame government, employers or urpose of finan- cial planning is not to put one in a financial straight jacket where the joys of living as opposed to earning are all denied in the name of saving. Rather, it is to strike a balance — what are your most important goals and how do you protect and plan your future in a rapidly changing and often unpredictable world. ‘The present recession is undoubt- edly inflicting financial and emo- tional strain on many individuals and families and that is an unhappy State of affairs. However, it does pose a challenge to both those who are directly affected and those who are nervous but as yet unscathed bystanders. Do something about planning your financial affairs now — to see you through your present difficul- ties and to stand you in better stead to do more when the financial situa- tion improves or to ensure you can withstand the financial impact of this recession and to start planning for the future. John Green is a Milton resident and an account executive with Investors Syndicate in Oakville. If you have any questions about finan- cial planning matters, you may call 875-0511 or 842-4630. By JOHN GREEN Halton Hills This Week editor Scott Kline ponders over the fine ani of desktop publishing technology which arrived with new computers at the newspaper office last week David takes on Goliath in north Halton market A David and Goliath contest will open tomorrow in Halton Hills with the birth of a new inde- pendent newspaper. The role of David will be played by Halton residents Ken Bellamy and Bill Whitaker, publisher and financial backer respectively of the upstart Halton Hills This Week. Goliath will be Torstar Inc.’s Metroland Printing and Publishing chain of community newspapers. With an initial press run of 17,000 and plans to publish twice wishing to deliver WE WELCOME ALL OUR CARRIERS and invite applications for routes as they become available from anyone “HALTON HILLS THIS WEEK’’ in Acton and Georgetown. CALL TODAY AND REGISTER @ 873-2254 & between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. weekly by July, the partners are setting an ambitious goal for them- ves. ‘i Mr. Bellamy, who served 14 years as publisher of the Metroland-owned Georgetown Independent, didn’t set out to start a newspaper of his own — the deci- sion was forced on him. “After 22 years with Metroland, they offered me a chance to go to Newmarket at a reduced salary or take the severance package they had on the table,” he said in an interview. “I started looking for a job but there’s not a lot out there for newspaper publishers.” During that search, he spoke to Mr. Whitaker about a job as adver- tising manager of the Oakville Shopping News “but of course I was overqualified.” Within three weeks of the clos- ing of the Halton Hills Herald,however, they met again to =§ PARTICIPAC > . VELA start laying plans for a new paper in the community. Mr. Whitaker is owner and pub- lisher of the Oakville Shopping News, a printing plant and “shop- per” in Milton. With the new pub- lication, he hopes to extend his reach to all of Halton and even into parts of wena County ° such as Rockw Halton Hills This Week will start with a staff of 12, including four advertising sales people, an editor and two reporters plus circu- lation, administration and desktop Publishing workers. e’re going to take on Metroland in a David-and-Goliath situation, but it looks like we’re in “Mr. Whitaker is going to bill us the going rate for his press time but he’s willing to hold the bills. My wife and I have put a large part of our severance into the busi- ness and we’re going to make a go of it.” The biggest advantage they have over others who have tried to start newspapers, is access to a printing press whose owner is willing to wait to get paid until the new pub- lication is established. “When you start a newspaper without a press, you know there’s a man waiting at the end of the press after your first issue who wants a cheque before he’ll print the next one,” Mr. Bellamy said. Mr. Whitaker said he expects good results from the new publica- tion because it is starting life with a good revenue base left by the now-defunct Herald. “If we can retain that revenue base and streamline the operation, then we can make a good return on our investment,” he said. Reprinted by permission from the Hamilton/Burlington Spectator, June 23, 1992.